The 2022 - 2023 Ski Season Thread

[bwt3650]

Was having second thoughts about Stratton tomorrow. Rain then mid 20’s tonight. Thinking icy tomorrow despite temps near 40 and sun.


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Let me know how it is if you go..was thinking of heading there mon or tues, but those look like some serious thaw/freezes.


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[bwt3650]

A friend of mine skied Okemo on Thanksgiving.  Said conditions were excellent considering the date

Okemo was leading the east in open terrain and I’ve heard good reports from there.


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[snowgeek]

Let me know how it is if you go..was thinking of heading there mon or tues, but those look like some serious thaw/freezes.


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Will do. I feel like they usually make some pretty dense snow too early season which ices up easily. I went last year Thanksgiving time after a thaw/ freeze and it was very slick and hard.


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[powderfreak]

3 hours ago, bwt3650 said:

Okemo was leading the east in open terrain and I’ve heard good reports from there.

Yeah a good Stowe friend is down in the neighborhood for World Cup and has skied Okemo a couple times on his Epic pass… said it’s pretty insane what Okemo has done considering the length of time since it was 70F.  Like multiple routes in several areas.

[snowgeek]

Rain, freeze, warm up, repeat. Skiing gonna be pretty meh the next week or so although some areas might get some good upslope behind Wednesday system. Oh well. Hopefully fun times ahead after that.


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[mcglups]

29 minutes ago, snowgeek said:

Rain, freeze, warm up, repeat. Skiing gonna be pretty meh the next week or so although some areas might get some good upslope behind Wednesday system. Oh well. Hopefully fun times ahead after that.


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Agreed. I've enjoyed the conditions for the past few days (small crowds, good snow, minimal terrain open) and definitely will need to keep an eye on the post storm events for recovery. Just hoping that temperatures can eventually get cool enough for resuming snowmaking.

[bwt3650]

Agreed. I've enjoyed the conditions for the past few days (small crowds, good snow, minimal terrain open) and definitely will need to keep an eye on the post storm events for recovery. Just hoping that temperatures can eventually get cool enough for resuming snowmaking.

Mon night/ tues especially up north is a decent window, but weds goes to crap again. Best bet is probably killington north and hope the backside of weds trends cooler. I agree it’s not a good 7 days coming up, but I looked at my ski tracks to see what I was skiing the first 10 days of Dec, trail count is about the same. Difference this year is there is a lot of wet going into those trails.


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[powderfreak]

At least today was sunny almost spring skiing before the rain moved in around 3pm.

[STILL N OF PIKE]

Based on the next week plus’s meh weather up North anyone have any suggestions which days may play best for Wildcat . Mid week or weekend . Appreciate it . Hate icy conditions.

[alex]

8 hours ago, STILL N OF PIKE said:

Based on the next week plus’s meh weather up North anyone have any suggestions which days may play best for Wildcat . Mid week or weekend . Appreciate it . Hate icy conditions.

May want to avoid Wildcat and head to Bretton Woods if you’re trying to avoid icy conditions 

[STILL N OF PIKE]

54 minutes ago, alex said:

May want to avoid Wildcat and head to Bretton Woods if you’re trying to avoid icy conditions 

Ugh , I gotta use my epic pass which doesn’t have Bretton . I wish it did 

[Angus]

why don't you go to sunapee for a few hours? One route down but I'm guessing that's what you they will have really at Wildcat too. Terrain is more gentle, it's early season and you save a bunch of time/gas on the commute if you live in Nashua.

[radarman]

Okemo is typically reliable for early season conditions

[STILL N OF PIKE]

2 hours ago, Angus said:

why don't you go to sunapee for a few hours? One route down but I'm guessing that's what you they will have really at Wildcat too. Terrain is more gentle, it's early season and you save a bunch of time/gas on the commute if you live in Nashua.

Not a bad suggestion. I have never ski’d Sunapee, wasn’t sure if they are a solid spot this early . Unless they have really been making snow to cover any ice from yesterday’s pouring rain 

[powderfreak]

This afternoon was a great day on the hill.  Private ski resort, with a high-speed Quad giving you 2,100 vertical feet in 7 minutes, and literally no one around.  Only two real routes down, but despite the poor visibility, the snow surface was sweet.

A dense inch of new snow on top of a smooth surface seeing very little skier traffic... the runs this afternoon were sweet considering the heavy rain last night.  A mix of snowflakes, pellets, and freezing drizzle came out of the cloud today, but the density of it skied very smooth.  Low ratio inch of white material.

I counted under a dozen cars in the Mansfield lot.  There were three cars over in the Midway lots, but it was as empty as an open operating ski area could be.  Literally not seeing another human for the entire run down one of the two open routes.  The main issue was the fact that freezing fog/drizzle in the cloud occupied about 1,000 vertical feet (there's a thousand verts above that cloud level, and a thousand below it) and required frequent wiping of ice off the goggles.

Very enjoyable for November.  I guess Smuggs, Bolton and Jay Peak are closed midweek this week.  It's still very early when the neighbors aren't doing 7 day a week operations.

[bwt3650]

Stratton today..not terrible. I’ve skied much, much worse in November, especially considering the warmth ten days ago. They have 4 ways from the top and good coverage, though a few thin spots mid mountain. It def feels like winter at the top; flurries, cold, overcast and tons of guns going. Looks like they are focusing on beginning stuff from the top. Don’t get me wrong, it’s icy early season stuff, but considering the rain, thaw, freeze and limited terrain, it’s an overall good day. They need some of these upcoming storms to at least end as snow or I think it will get bad quick. Like pf has noted up north, it’s an empty mountain.




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[mcglups]

Wildcat had the quad running at full speed which made it nice and quick to the top, and then there was one run to the bottom comprised of three trails. Top half of mountain felt like winter snow, the lower half they were blowing snow and actually it felt pretty good except. After a half dozen runs I called it quits, but it sure feels nice when the sun starts to hit the snow. They were blowing snow on other trails, but it will take much more effort and hopefully some help from mother nature to open up more of the mountain. Like BWT said, good to have the season upon us, but it is fragile that any warm rain will eat away at this base, and hopefully in the next one to three weeks we can get some natural snow. Still fun nonetheless with barely anyone on the slopes!

[Lava Rock]

2 hours ago, mcglups said:

Wildcat had the quad running at full speed which made it nice and quick to the top, and then there was one run to the bottom comprised of three trails. Top half of mountain felt like winter snow, the lower half they were blowing snow and actually it felt pretty good except. After a half dozen runs I called it quits, but it sure feels nice when the sun starts to hit the snow. They were blowing snow on other trails, but it will take much more effort and hopefully some help from mother nature to open up more of the mountain. Like BWT said, good to have the season upon us, but it is fragile that any warm rain will eat away at this base, and hopefully in the next one to three weeks we can get some natural snow. Still fun nonetheless with barely anyone on the slopes!

Matty B's for a an apres ski pint? We were in Bartlett last weekend and hung out there for some drinks.

[mcglups]

44 minutes ago, Lava Rock said:

Matty B's for a an apres ski pint? We were in Bartlett last weekend and hung out there for some drinks.

Sounds good to me. Shoot me a message anytime you are heading to Wildcat, it is just under 30 minutes from my place in Berlin and to cruise towards Bartlett afterwards is definitely in the mix of things to do.

[bwt3650]

What’s up with Killington this year? Their snow report says they managed to run “3” fan guns today to fix weak spots. Stratton must have had 30 plus (prob more on terrain out of site)…would think killington has better or similar temps. They are sitting at 60 acres while others are pushing 100. Superstar will add to that once they chop it up, but they seem to be behind this year. Whiteface, Sugarloaf, Stowe, Stratton, hunter even mt snow getting after it.




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[GCWarrior]

Went to Killington last Wednesday. it was decent for early season.    They were running north ridge plus they opened top to bottom off the gondola.  Not an ideal setup for lapping but it worked out.  Northridge had a few options which felt a lot more than the same date last year. 

[powderfreak]

2 hours ago, bwt3650 said:

What’s up with Killington this year? Their snow report says they managed to run “3” fan guns today to fix weak spots. Stratton must have had 30 plus (prob more on terrain out of site)…would think killington has better or similar temps. They are sitting at 60 acres while others are pushing 100. Superstar will add to that once they chop it up, but they seem to be behind this year. Whiteface, Sugarloaf, Stowe, Stratton, hunter even mt snow getting after it.

The World Cup requires so many resources that there is no way it doesn't impact the actual skiing product... however I don't think it matters.  They are offering skiing/riding to the public, while putting on the single best show for skiing in the northeast.  Without the World Cup, they'd be leading the industry at this time for public offerings.  The staffing and energy that needs to go into putting on an event like the World Cup, plus concerts, events, parking, etc is so labor intensive.  I bet almost everyone at the resort was/has been focused on that event.  Financially and globally, having that event run as smooth as it has for several+ years is way more important than the public ski/ride offerings IMO.

They'll catch up quickly once the Superstar Quad opens to the public.  But they have diverted a lot of resources towards that big ticket event. 

[bwt3650]

8 hours ago, powderfreak said:

The World Cup requires so many resources that there is no way it doesn't impact the actual skiing product... however I don't think it matters.  They are offering skiing/riding to the public, while putting on the single best show for skiing in the northeast.  Without the World Cup, they'd be leading the industry at this time for public offerings.  The staffing and energy that needs to go into putting on an event like the World Cup, plus concerts, events, parking, etc is so labor intensive.  I bet almost everyone at the resort was/has been focused on that event.  Financially and globally, having that event run as smooth as it has for several+ years is way more important than the public ski/ride offerings IMO.

They'll catch up quickly once the Superstar Quad opens to the public.  But they have diverted a lot of resources towards that big ticket event. 

na, i get it.  World cup is huge and they do an outstanding job with it.  I just didn't realize they would pull snowmakers for the labor part of it once the pod is blown .  Maybe it's just perception, or maybe some other resorts have just really pushed this season.  I'm not used to seeing Okemo at 126, Mt. Snow at 135 Stowe at 94 and Killington at 60.  Lack of any natural probably hurts too.  They did grab some acres from the North Ridge naturals last year around this time.  To see them running only 3 fan guns during a 24 hour November window just seemed odd to me. I figured they would have blasted those high connecting trails up on K1 to connect the pods.  But in no way a bashing of Killington.  

[mcglups]

Watched some of the Killington World Cup on television last night and definitely a proud moment for the event to have happened with tons of fans everywhere and a course that looked to be in great condition.

Did a quiver of laps today at Wildcat. With the snow they made yesterday + the grooming last night + the snow/mist/rain/dreary conditions this morning that resulted in 5 people on the slopes, the conditions were the best so far this season. The single top to bottom run with packed powder and generally soft snow throughout, and the lower section that had been a bit rough in past days was resolved presumably by the snowmaking and grooming.

It is raining and 37 at my place, so even if it is wet on the mountain, it is a cold rain and hopefully soaks into the base and then freezes for some foundational ice as opposed to melt off.

[Angus]

skinned up WaWa this morning primarily to make sure I understood how to transition in the 'field' from uphill to downhill mode. Everything worked fine except I was way overdressed and given my dismal fitness level, I was surprisingly gassed on the steeper sections. I was surprised to see how many skiers were there doing the same thing. WaWa had the guns roaring but turned them off a bit after 7am. Surprising amount of depth on the trails they do have open and along with resurfacing open terrain, it looks like they made snow on lower tenth mountain last night. Friend skiing at Kirkwood sent me video of him skiing powder yesterday as well as some near zero visibility conditions. Said they were doing avalanche control work this morning on the mountain and it was cold.

[powderfreak]

Long post with a lot of images, but everyone knows I'm a firm believer of a picture is worth a thousand words. 

Today was an interesting day.  It was the first day of paid parking in the main Mansfield lots.  Free parking was down in the lower lots at Toll Road and Cross Country Center with consistent shuttle access.

Well, evidently an economic disincentive does matter.  Especially on days with so-so conditions.  Despite it being a Friday (work day) early season and a couple days after a rain, the ski area felt as dead as ever.  I studied/graduated in economics in my college years.  I find it fascinating.  It isn't just about money...economics is about behaviors and the explaining the decisions behind them.  So I find this experiment oddly interesting for an area with traffic and parking capacity problems (the hill's uphill capacity can take more humans, the road needs to take less vehicles).

This is 11 AM, sunny weather, temps rising to the 30s and light winds.  Perfect weather to be outside.  Only 30 cars.

Empty?  It will be interesting to see how much the economic control limits demand, especially on the days when conditions are ok, not great.

The Mansfield Stake is at 10”.  Hovering either side of average past week.  Things went from record hot, straight into winter with sustained snow cover even to the valley floors, and now is back to late Nov/early Dec vibes of frozen ground, dusting of snows, some remaining snowbanks.  We'll see where the future takes us.

This afternoon:

 

Big fan of the snowmaking and grooming friends/team.  Mountain Ops as a whole is crushing it so far this season.  Opening up another route from Upper Hayride and Jake's Ride tomorrow despite the rough weather this week.  They keep making progress on terrain expansion.

Today was a beautiful day with some sunshine, comfortable temperatures, and light winds... but "tomorrow may not be the same" was my message on the snow report this evening.  I try to give everyone a summery of that day followed by a projection for tomorrow.

 

[bwt3650]

Long post with a lot of images, but everyone knows I'm a firm believer of a picture is worth a thousand words. 
Today was an interesting day.  It was the first day of paid parking in the main Mansfield lots.  Free parking was down in the lower lots at Toll Road and Cross Country Center with consistent shuttle access.
Well, evidently an economic disincentive does matter.  Especially on days with so-so conditions.  Despite it being a Friday (work day) early season and a couple days after a rain, the ski area felt as dead as ever.  I studied/graduated in economics in my college years.  I find it fascinating.  It isn't just about money...economics is about behaviors and the explaining the decisions behind them.  So I find this experiment oddly interesting for an area with traffic and parking capacity problems (the hill's uphill capacity can take more humans, the road needs to take less vehicles).
This is 11 AM, sunny weather, temps rising to the 30s and light winds.  Perfect weather to be outside.  Only 30 cars.

Empty?  It will be interesting to see how much the economic control limits demand, especially on the days when conditions are ok, not great.

The Mansfield Stake is at 10”.  Hovering either side of average past week.  Things went from record hot, straight into winter with sustained snow cover even to the valley floors, and now is back to late Nov/early Dec vibes of frozen ground, dusting of snows, some remaining snowbanks.  We'll see where the future takes us.

This afternoon:

 

Big fan of the snowmaking and grooming friends/team.  Mountain Ops as a whole is crushing it so far this season.  Opening up another route from Upper Hayride and Jake's Ride tomorrow despite the rough weather this week.  They keep making progress on terrain expansion.

Today was a beautiful day with some sunshine, comfortable temperatures, and light winds... but "tomorrow may not be the same" was my message on the snow report this evening.  I try to give everyone a summery of that day followed by a projection for tomorrow.

 

The snow reports are noticed. One of the few left who give an honest account and also where things are headed. Don’t stop the snowmaking updates. I’m biased, but jay with their multiple updates a day and stowe are the best reports in the northeast.


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[SJonesWX]

Drove up to CON to hit the ski and skate sale this morning. picked up a pair of 1 year old lightly used skis for half price of new. if the attendance is any indicator, it’s going to be busy on the slopes this year, as it was packed

[snowgeek]

I have noticed more and more of my 8th and 9th grade students talk to me about skiing each year. The sport Is definitely becoming more popular. A student just said to me , “Guess what, we’re going to Alta this winter.” For a long stretch, I had almost no students that skied. This year it’s at least 10.


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[snowgeek]

Once it gets more consistently cool, the trails with no snow on them now will probably be in better shape than the ones that are currently open which will have a nice foot of ice on the bottom. The kind of ice that fresh powder just slides off of (especially the steeper sections). Boiler plate baby!!!


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